What you need to know:

• Nurofen has taken the wrappers of what’s set to become a multi-year campaign and program of work to help address the gender pain gap that exists in Australia between men and women.
• Training 9,150 pharmacists to identify and avoid unconscious bias this year, plus an annual Index revealing a 7 per cent gender pain gap between the sexes – and what’s contributing to it – are key elements of Nurofen’s plans to take a responsible brand position on this ongoing issue.
• According to marketing director ANZ, Holly McCarthy, the ‘See my pain’ work is “a fundamental shift to ensure the way we operate ensures all people regardless of gender, get appropriate treatment” and the initiative “reflects our brand ethos of caring and our dedication to addressing complex health challenges in a holistic and responsible way.”

A new training program to help 9,150 pharmacists curb unconscious bias when dealing with women on pain management is one of seven commitments Nurofen is making to help close the gender pain gap in Australia.

The brand’s ‘See my pain’ campaign and inaugural Australian Gender Pain Gap Index Report launch was deliberately timed for 28 February, the same day the first WGEA’s Gender Pay Gap Report came out, starkly revealing the pay gap existing between men and women across more than 5,000 private Australian organisations. Nurofen’s report and campaign launch also came out just over a week ahead of International Women’s Day on 8 March.

“There have been lots of topics around gender – pay, flexible work – but not so much about gender pain. But it’s a true issue. That’s where we take the view it’s our responsibility – because who else has the platform to be able to drive change in this area?” Reckitt marketing director health ANZ, Holly McCarthy, tells Mi3.

“This initiative reflects our brand ethos of caring and our dedication to addressing complex health challenges in a holistic and responsible way.”

The discrepancy between how women’s pain is understood, recognised and treated isn’t an issue Nurofen alone is highlighting. The Victorian Government in January announced an inquiry off the back of its landmark study exploring the unique pain and health challenges of women, part of a $153m health transformation plan enacted in the state. In 2023, the Federal Government established the Women’s Health Advisory Council to improve outcomes for women’s health.

McCarthy says the insight and sad reality the FMCG giant had uncovered is there really is a gender pain gap.

“We validated that through a huge piece of research and saw the disparity in pain management when it comes to treatment and experiences of pain between genders. The ambition of this program is to raise awareness of this issue and ultimately drive change so there’s equality in this area,” she says.  

“We are a leading player in the pain management space and our background is grounded in research into improving outcomes for consumers. In this case, it’s how we use our brand platform, equity and investment to help drive change. That starts with awareness – men and women need to be aware this is a challenge and the issue is being experienced. Then it’s about how we drive action and advocacy.”

The first tranche of the ‘See my pain’ campaign centres on highlighting report findings as well as real-life case studies. Activity started with PR and the report release, supported by a video asset supported through YouTube. A shorter version will appear on TV. Outdoor and social advertising are in the mix too.

In addition, Nurofen has created a free ‘Pain Pass’ tool for women to help track and measure pain, then manage conversations with healthcare professionals in a way designed to mitigate any unconscious bias. ‘Pass’ stands for: Pause the conversation; ask questions for clarity; speak up; seek another opinion.

Nurofen is also making a $200,000 donation to NFP, Jean Hailes, to support a new program disseminating practical, evidence-based health information relating to how women understand and manage pain in Australia.  

One of the most ambitious elements in 2024, however, is rolling out in-person and online training and education programs with pharmacists to curb unconscious bias in this area. The aim is to reach 9,150 pharmacists – about 30 per cent of Australian pharmacists – by the end of the year.

“They’re very receptive to it: In the research we did, we spoke to healthcare professionals and 90 per cent are seeking training and support in this area,” McCarthy says.

On top of this, Nurofen has partnered with Priceline and has a donation mechanic when consumers purchase Nurofen products on the retailer’s website to donate to its Sisterhood Foundation supporting women charities. The Priceline partnership extends to input into education programs to “make sure this will work with the audience we’re speaking to”, McCarthy says.

“We’re committing to continuing with this research and tracking it. We know it’s not going to be all done and dusted in one year; it’s a big issue that will take time to change.”

When it comes to timing, McCarthy says it was very much about capitalising on “when there is the most openness to a conversation and knowing this is a new topic”.

“Knowing how stretched many organisations are, this is an area we believe we play a role and can use our platform to make a difference. Yes, it leads to broader purpose impact. But it also guides how we do business, and the things we’re doing internally to sure our research has no bias and is equally representing both genders,” she says.

Making it local

Nurofen’s gender pain advocacy locally comes off the back of UK efforts launched in 2022. But McCarthy says it was critical to localise through research, media selection and activity mix. And the report indicates market nuances.

For example, the second-annual UK Gender Pain Gap Index Report found the pain gap widening from 7 per cent to 11 per cent year-on-year, meaning 11 per cent more women than men feel their pain has been ignored or dismissed in 2023. What’s more, 72 per cent of UK women surveyed felt gender discrimination was the reason man's pain is taken more seriously by HCPs – a 9 per cent increase on 2022 research.

In Australia, Nurofen’s study canvassing 2,000-plus respondents found 55 per cent of women feel they have had their pain ignored or dismissed compared to 48 per cent of men. Of those feeling that way, 32 per cent of women versus 20 per cent of men believed it was because their GPs didn’t take their pain seriously. Top factors contributing to the gap include the fact women are not always taken as seriously because they're viewed as 'emotional' (49 per cent); and that women are expected to naturally suffer pain, such as period pain or childbirth (46 per cent).

More women than men were also waiting 12 months or more for a diagnosis than men (21 per cent versus 13 per cent). The report further notes Australian GPs and pharmacists treating people in pain have seen gender bias manifest in female pain being under-diagnosed (49 per cent), misdiagnosed (45 per cent) and taking too long to be diagnosed (45 per cent).

Nurofen is clearly attempting to position itself as not just a leader in pain relief products but as a thought leader in the conversation about pain management and health equity.

“It’s less about who are our buyers and more that pain is a broad experience. We have identified where there is an issue in pain experience being diagnosed, treated differently and the impact of that,” McCarthy says. “It’s about us looking at where we can play a role to drive improved outcomes for the wellbeing of Australians, versus let’s drive growth in product sales among women.”

To this end, McCarthy flags work looking at a pipeline of products with global teams to help better deliver against the pain experiences of women.

“It’s quite a fundamental shift to ensure the way we operate ensures all people regardless of gender, get appropriate treatment,” she adds. “This initiative reflects our brand ethos of caring and our dedication to addressing complex health challenges in a holistic and responsible way.”

Long-term success metrics

As a long-term initiative, the number one goal McCarthy has in her sights is change in terms of impact and average use gap over time.

At a brand level, McCarthy will be continuing to track equity and one of Nurofen’s key brand measures, ‘does this brand understand my pain’. Shorter-term success metrics for the campaign then include engagement rates, audience reach, sentiment analysis and impact on brand perception. These are being closely monitored through consumer feedback, social media analytics and brand health studies.

Reckitt has also invested in market mix modelling more broadly to understand the impact of investments while driving shorter-term benefits.

Early results indicate a positive shift in brand perception, with consumers recognising Nurofen's commitment to addressing important health issues and advocating for change.

“Short-term metrics will be interesting to see but they’re not the primary objective of this campaign – the experience is much longer term,” McCarthy says.  “But within specific product pillars, we’ll continue to try and drive key messages around superiority and speed with Zavance, for example.”

More broadly in 2024, McCarthy points to work across her brand portfolio to strip back investment levels on “certain brands less responsive to media to enable her team to over-index and drive investment in brands most critical to our portfolio but also have the strongest long-term return”.  Alongside Nurofen, Gaviscon and Dettol are leading brands driving most of the division’s revenue.

“It’s probably the smaller brands we’re performing the balancing act around,” MCarthy says of her 2024 efforts. “We are looking at how to ensure we’re investing appropriately on our key pillars of our brand, looking at where we’re seeing dynamics changing – down-trading in parts of our business and where people are dropping out and trying to understand those, then look at how we help address that, whether it’s through any of the marketing Ps. It’s a very live, real challenge.”